Mona Hughes conducted market research through an online survey to inform the target audience, style, and content of a new music magazine. She found that the majority of respondents were 15-24 year old females interested in indie, pop, or rock music. Most accessed music through streaming subscriptions rather than purchases. While 70% did not currently read music magazines, the most popular magazines among those who did were NME, Kerrang, and Q. Respondents indicated they would be attracted to a magazine because of its interesting content and would be willing to pay £1-4 for a monthly issue. This information will help Mona design a magazine that appeals to her core demographic.

1. Mona Hughes
Market Research – Music Magazines
To conduct marketresearch to informme aboutthe target audience,styleandcontentof a new
musicmagazine Iuseda form of primaryresearch;I createda questionaire onthe webiste Survey
Monkey.Thisallowedme todistribute ittomanypeople andhelpedcollectall myresults,inmy
questionaireIcollectedbothquantative andqualitativedata.ThisiswhatI found:
Question1: What isyour age?
80% of my respondentswere15 to 24
yearsold,thislarge majoritymayresultin
my findingsbeingbiased, andtherefore
there mayconsistentlybe popular
answersif thatis whatappealsto thisage
category.10% of people were 25to 44,
and the final 10% were 45 to 54. These
resultswill allowthe restof the answers
to hopefullybe varied.
Question2: What isyour gender?
My secondquestionasked
respondentsof their
gender.Ifoundthere wasa
majorityof females,at70%,
than males,at30%. This
may resultingenderbias
answersinresponse tolater
questions.
Question3: What isyour preferredgenre ofmusic?
My thirdquestionaskedpeople’spreferred
genre of music.There wasa large varietyinmy
findings,the mostpopulargenre being Indie,
with30%, thenbothrock andpop had 20% of
people andfinally10% of people preferredR‘n
B, Jazz andOther. Thisshowsare large variety
inpopularitybetweenmusicgenres,however
for mymagazine itwouldbe bestto go inthe
directionof indie, poporrockin orderto suit
my targetaudience.

2. Mona Hughes
Question4: How do you access music?
In orderto identifyinformation,question4
askedhow people acessedmusic,Idecidedto
include bothplacesmusicandbe purchasedand
streamed.Respondantswere alsoable to
choose more than one option.Thisanswer
showedthatpayingsubscriptioninorderto
streammusicis more popular(60% using
spotify) thanpurchasingmusiconiTunes(40%
of people).Tostreammusicforfree,YouTube is
hugelymore popularthan Souncloud,which
usedby10% of respondantsandYouTube being
usedby70%. Thisshowsthat people preferto
spendlessmoneybystreamingonline where
there isa large varietyof musicavailable.
Question5: Do you read music magazines?
My fifth questionenquiredwhethermy
respondantsreadmusicmagazines. The
answersgave a majority,70%,of people
not readingwiththe rest,30%, thatdo
readmusic magazines.The following
questionsgive aninsightsinto
reasoningsbehindthese answerswhich
can helpme understandwhatcan be
done to helpincrease the numberof
people whodoreadmusicmagazines.
Question6: If yes,which?
By allowingrespondantstochoose
more than one answershowsthat
those whodo read magazines,may
readmore thanone issue.The ones
that are readinclude,NME,Kerrang
and Q magazine withothermagazines
alsobeingpopular,therefore
supportingthe indie androckgenresof
music

3. Mona Hughes
Question7: If no,why not?
Thisanswershowsthat the majority
of those who don’tread magazines
tendnot to because they’re not
interestedinthem;Icouldinstead
ensure mymagazine includes
features,suchasa magazine fora
differentgenre orincludingcontent
that may be of interesttoa larger
audience.The other43% of people
saidtheydon’tread music
magazinesbecause theydon’thave
time.
Question8: Do you prefermagazines inprint or online?
My nextquestionaskedpeople
whetherthey’dprefermagazinesin
printor to be able toaccess them
online.The answerscame atan
exactly 50 to 50 split,half prefering
each methodtoreadthe magazine.
Thismeansmy magazine canbe
suitable forbothprintandonline
viewing,orevenboth.
Question9: What attracts you to buy a magazine?
Thisquestionhasinformedme that70% of
people wouldbuyamagazine due toit’s
contenttherefore Iwouldneed toensure that
my magazine hasinterestingcontent.20% of
people wouldpurchase amagazine basedon
free itemsitcomeswith.The final 10%
respondedwithother,andspecified‘the artist
on the magazine’asbeing whatwoulddraw
themto buyit, therfore suggestbothimages
and content.

4. Mona Hughes
Question10: How many gigs/concertsdo you go to a year?
Thisquestion foundthatthe majorityof people
(60%) saidthat that goto 0-2 concertsor gigsa
year,thisshowsme that my magazine wouldnot
referto or advertise huge numbersof concerts
or gigs,howeverwill still includesome mention
as 20% of people goto 3-5 gigs,10% each going
to 6-8 and14+, peryear.
Question11: How much wouldyou pay for a monthly music magazine?
My final question,‘how muchwould
youpay for a monthlymusic
magazine?’Ifoundthathalf of my
respondantwouldpay£1-2.99 with
40% sayingtheywouldbe willingto
buyit for £3-4.99 and the final 10%
wouldspend£5-6.99 fora monthly
magazine.Thisshowsme thatmy
magazine couldbe successful when
soldat around£3. Howeverthisisan
example of where mylowerage groupbeingthe majorityof respondantsmaybe the reasonasto
why the most popularprice range isthe lowest,asyoungpeople,ages15-24 may not have the
moneytospend£5 on a magazine everymonth.
My questionaire hasallowedme tofindoutlotsof informationthatwouldmake myfuture magazine
popularwithan audience.Ithasshownme that mytarget demographicwouldbe 15-24 yearold
femalesinterestedinIndie,PoporRock music,whoalsoenjoyreadingmagazinessuchasNME,
Kerrangand Q. I needtoensure mymagazine haslotsof interestingcontentandanentisingfront
coverwhichmany persuade more customersinterestedinmusicmagazines.